God I love growing our own

[JamezF]

A skinned pepper is a different animal. Absolutely gorgeous.

They are indeed.

James

 

[fian]

They are indeed.

James

Perhaps then you should try planting and harvesting Oimbra peppers, one of the Galician varieties with two very particular characteristics:
A. Skin extremely thin and very easily removed once lightly fried.
B. Very fleshy with a predominantly conical shape and no lobes.
I don't know if I sent you seeds they would arrive.

 

[enrico]

I wouldn't dream of denying the usefulness of freezers, but I do like to try other ways of preserving food too. Especially if it means the ongoing storage isn't costing me anything It also means that the freezer space is available for things that are more difficult to preserve some other way. And for ice cream, of course Home-made vanilla ice cream is actually one of life's great pleasures. Such a shame that vanilla pods have become outrageously expensive over the last few years.

James

I have an ice cream machine. I make a batch every month. One of my failings! I add plenty of alcohol to keep it soft scoop and home made lemon curd which helps too. Have a scoop most evenings!!

 

[roche]

I have an ice cream machine. I make a batch every month. One of my failings! I add plenty of alcohol to keep it soft scoop and home made lemon curd which helps too. Have a scoop most evenings!!

Have you tried elderflower icecream or sorbet? Superb!

 

[enrico]

Have you tried elderflower icecream or sorbet? Superb!

My wife loves elderflower anything but I am not a great lover of it, it's a bit perfumy for me

 

[fian]

Speaking of ice cream, it turns out that this year the novelty at the "Festa do pemento de Arnoia" is the pepper ice cream. The problem is that I have work and I can't get close to tasting it.

 

[Goran]

We roast our peppers on the barbecue and peel them off, after put in the freezer. Later when want make them as sallad with garlic or as main meal fried with eggs. For this we use only conical peppers. We wait them to be red, not yellow or even worse green.
Rotund we mostly use for conserving similar to pickles. Some bell peppers we also make so.
Some of bell peppers we just remove seeds and leave the whole in the freezer, and later in the winter stuff it with meat, potato, rice or whatever you like, there are may ways and likes.
Before we used to stuff the bell peppers with cabbage and conserve in the jars.. But we got bored of it, or maybe become lazy..
For ajvar - go all red ( but majority we have conical type).. You can never buy good ajvar as the one you make, not even close.. Usually find the one recipe which suits you and don't look back.. Many put eggplants in it, we don't, just peppers.
Also good way of conserving of different types of veggies is " turšija" which also need just bucket or big jars, but when we need to make it we have so many other jobs which we have crucial, and usually don't have time for it..
I am certain there are some ways I skip, but I can't remember now..

 

[rossbyjove]

I've never seen suggestions that the tea light thing isn't true though obviously if the external temperature gets sufficiently cold it definitely won't be able to help. I'll see what I can find out. I guess it shouldn't be too hard to work out the potential heat output.

James

If it's the flowerpot tea light thing.
It does not work, tried it.

 

[Midget Gem]

From pallet to raised bed. Now I just have to fill it

 

[pargyle]

From pallet to raised bed. Now I just have to fill it

View attachment 37228 View attachment 37229

Very nice.. the only problem I find with pallet wood for raised beds is that it rots very quickly... cheap enough to replace but annoying when they rot and become a home for woodlice and other creatures . I'm trying a longer, albeit more expensive route.. pallet collars .. painted inside with some sadolin I had left over then lined with damp proof membrane and rhe outside treated with wood preservative. Seems to be working so far...

 

[pargyle]

Outside most of this afternoon tying stuff up, adding bracing canes to my tomatoes as storm antoni has been blowing everything over. Considering we are pretty sheltered here it must be playing havoc with those of you further west. I'm in the greenhouse at the moment and it's really rattling the glass ....I've been trimming leaves off the tomatoes... loads of grèen fruit and I've not has a single ripe one yet .. they just get bigger !

 

[Erichalfbee]

No storm here.

 

[pargyle]

Don't know how you managed to miss that then:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66413946

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

We wait them to be red, not yellow or even worse green.

I enjoy any pepper, raw or cooked, but the green ones are the devil's spit

No storm here.

Strange storm, more like a succession of prolonged squalls - wrote off the Gower Show in five minutes, just a quarter of an hour after I left, when I was there it was just one of those 'wintery summer' days but suddenly I just felt the precursor to a sudden squall which I ignored - unfortunately

 

[pargyle]

Quite gusty for most of the afternoon here in Fareham ...and it's blowing up quite a solid breeze here now ... lot worse on the coast it seems. Should blow through overnight ... my neighbour sailed back from Cherbourg to Gosport in his 30 footer arrived back a couple of hours ago. Described conditions as challenging. I'd have stayed in Cherbourg I think ...

 

[JamezF]

Been a bit breezy and showery here, but nothing of any real note. There were even people playing cricket on the local pitch this afternoon. They tend to laugh in the face of rainy weather though. If they didn't they'd never get a game in.

James

 

[JamezF]

Ok, perhaps I typed too soon. We're now into our second power cut of the evening, and whilst the first came back very quickly, this one looks more serious.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

Don't know how you managed to miss that then:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66413946

We had a couple of heavy downpours this morning. No wind so the rain hung around. After lunch it was warm and sunny enough to do some beekeeping.

 

[Erichalfbee]

There is just a gentle breeze just now.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Very nice.. the only problem I find with pallet wood for raised beds is that it rots very quickly... cheap enough to replace but annoying when they rot and become a home for woodlice and other creatures . I'm trying a longer, albeit more expensive route.. pallet collars .. painted inside with some sadolin I had left over then lined with damp proof membrane and rhe outside treated with wood preservative. Seems to be working so far...

I made a waist height raised bed in the greenhouse for Mrs J. An oblong box 18" x 60" x 8" deep using 9" thick tantalized boards with 6 legs of 3" x 4" bolted into the corners and long sides of the box using 7/16" steel coach bolts. The legs stand on old floor tiles to spread the load and the box is lined with black builder's polythene with a couple of central drain points. She filled the box with Lidl compost and now grows peppers, tomatoes and other stuff for the table. It's been is service for a couple of years with change of compost but no signs of deterioration of the wood